The United States passes a climate action bill with unified Republican opposition. The Inflation Reduction Act reduces climate-warming emissions, spurred by significant investments in decarbonization. Carbon-intensive drilling projects are authorized and expanded under the bill as well.
The US Supreme Court has limited EPA’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases, but leaves open options for the EPA to fight climate change. The ruling came as part of a series of rulings led by the new conservative supermajority. The basis of the ruling was the “major questions doctrine” which leaves other regulations potentially vulnerable.
Democratic Senator Joe Manchin said in an interview for Fox News on 19th of December that he could no longer support the BBBA, taking the White House by surprise. Manchin revived hopes in March by proposing a new approach which would have sufficient funding for climate provisions from the BBBA The clock is ticking for the Democrats with the Midterm elections in November, which could potentially result in Republican control over the US Congress.
The BBBA encourages energy efficiency and renewable energy while reforming fossil fuel leasing.Special attention is paid to vulnerable communities and to encourage domestic productionThe BBBA chooses incentives in the form of tax credits to promote renewable energy production rather than regulations.
The BBBA includes measures addressing road transport, shipping, aviation, rail, and cycling The emphasis is often on domestic manufacturing of technologies and vehicles Tens of billions will be spent on investments in addition to several tax credits to encourage the switch to cleaner transport
The Build Back Better Act represents the biggest effort to tackle the climate crisis in US history. In total, 550 billion USD is used for climate measures with almost 60% going towards clean energy tax credits.
What is President Biden’s American Jobs Plan (AJP)? A bipartisan group of senators worked on negotiating the infrastructure bill, which has several climate-related provisions. Read on for an explanation of the bill!
- Joe Biden made it clear throughout his campaign and after entering office that tackling the global climate crisis was a key focus for his government. - As president, he outlined a new approach to the climate crisis in an Executive Order released on January 27th. This established multiple new climate-related roles in the Executive Office of the President and integrated officials from other departments into the drive to curb environmental degradation. - In this article, Marion Willingam discusses what this means for the US’ renewed commitments to tackling the climate crisis.
This article examines the 30 by 30 target which forms part of President Biden’s plan to fight climate change and biodiversity loss. Challenges to this plan include representivity, climate and racial justice, private land ownership, politics and costs. Key aspects will be cooperation with key stakeholders, transparency, continuous government support beyond single presidential terms and funding.
Incoming President Biden enters office with an extensive Environmental Policy Platform, which through its many elements seeks to put the United States on the path to net zero emissions by the year 2050.